In the introduction
to this book the Nobel Prize winner David Hubel says "in the future
visual neuro-biology will enhance art in much the same way as the knowledge
of bones and muscles has for centuries enhanced the ability of artists
to portray the human body". Don't be frightened by the words "visual
neuro-biology", this book is accessible to any interested reader
(without a degree in medicine or biology!)

This book is
about the physics and biology of seeing, and how artists have (sometimes
unknowingly) exploited quirks in our visual system to trick us, surprise
us or simply get their message across. If you create graphics for the
computer screen or for the printed page this book will help you do it
better, and give you a deeper insight (!) into the visual system.

The list of
chapters gives you an idea of what is covered, and again, don't be alarmed
by the technical language in the chapter titles, it is all explained
clearly within the well illustrated pages:

Fiat Lux:
Let there be light

The Eye and Color Vision

Luminance and Night Vision

The First Stages of Processing
Color and Luminance: Where and What

Acuity and Spatial Resolution,
Central and Peripheral Vision

The Next Level of Color
Processing: Surround Effects

From 3D to 2D: Perpspective

From 3D to 2D: Shading and
Chiaroscuro

From 3D to 2D: Stereopsis

Illusions of Motion

Color Mixing and Color Resolution

Television, Movies and Computer
Graphics

Each chapter
has suprises for even the most knowlegable "graphics worker".
Did you know that the resolution of colors on your television is much
much less than the resolution of the black and white part of the image?
And did you know that, within color part of the television signal, blue
is given less space because the eye is less sensitive to blue than to
green or red?

There is an
explanation of the strange sun in Monet's painting "Impression
Sunrise". The pulsating effect is achieved because, though the
sun is diffirent in color from the surrounding clouds, it is equal in
value (luminance, brightness). Since our eyes are less sensitive to
color differences than value differences the sun, in the painting, seems
to pulsate. Livingstone attributes this to the fact that we have two
parallel vision systems, the color system and the brightness system.

One quote from
the book I found fascinating. We think we see images, but in reality
we don't. "Vision is information processing, not image transmission".
There is no "little man" or "homonculus" inside
your head which looks at an image transmitted by the optic nerve to
a TV screen stuck to the inside of your skull.

"At every
stage in vision, neurons perform calculations so that the end result
is information about what is out there in the world, not a picture to
be looked at".

I can see this
is true, it must be true, but I can't get out of my mind the idea that
I am looking at an image of the world!

Livingstone
gives an interesting analysis of why the Pointillist paintings give
a bright shimmering effect. According to Seurat it was because he mixed
light and not paint. According to Livingstone it all has to do with
the size of the dots, and how much of a single receptor in the eye each
dot covers. And her arguments are born out by an experiment she does
(and which you can do too).

Everyone interested
in art, graphic design or computer graphics will get something out of
this book, which is well worth its US$45 price tag.